Last Word: What does Khan victory portend for U.S.-Pakistan relations?

Imran Khan has made clear all along that he will not be a lackey for the United States. When President Trump last year threatened to cut off U.S. aid, Khan shot back in a tweet: “We sacrificed 70,000 Pak lives in U.S. (war on terror). Our economy suffered over $100 billion in losses ... time for Pak to say: Never again.”

Photo: John Diaz / The Chronicle 2012

Pakistan’s populist leader is a challenge to Trump

One of the highlights of my 2012 fact-finding trip to Pakistan was a visit to the hilltop estate of Imran Khan, a former cricket star who had long flirted with the notion of translating his popularity into politics. As he held court with journalists, Khan radiated depth, charm, disdain for corruption — and a deep skepticism about his nation’s ever-fraught alliance with the U.S.

Khan now appears poised to become Pakistan’s next prime minister after an election outside observers have suggested was rife with irregularities, from restrictions on the news media to intimidation of opponents by a powerful military that supported Khan.

So what does the future hold for a bilateral relationship that has alternated between deluges of aid and punishing sanctions? The outlook is complicated, as it has been since Pakistan’s creation in 1947. Khan suggested this week that Pakistan should be more reminiscent of the Islamic welfare state in the vision of the prophet Muhammad. President Trump will have his hands full.

Before joining the opinion pages, he directed the newspaper’s East Bay news coverage. He started at The Chronicle in 1990 as an assistant city editor.

John began his journalism career as a reporter for the Red Bluff Daily News. Two years later, he was promoted to the Washington, D.C., bureau of the newspaper’s parent company, Donrey Media Group. After that, he worked as a general assignment reporter for the Associated Press in Philadelphia and as a statehouse reporter and assistant city editor for the Denver Post.

He graduated from Humboldt State University in 1977 with a degree in journalism. He received a Distinguished Alumni Award from HSU in 2009 and was the university’s commencement speaker in 2010.